‘IT’S ON ME’
FOR O’BRIEN, BLAME GAME IS A HAND OF SOLITAIRE
Long before he said the words, everyone who has paid attention to the Texans for the past several seasons knew it was coming. There’s never a list of excuses. Never any reasons spelled out. One response every time. “It’s on me,” Bill O’Brien says every time the Texans lose.
He’s never strayed from that, never switched his tone, never changed his mind. O’Brien says it’s all his fault. It’s not true. There are other factors — others to blame, things that are far out of his control.
But it doesn’t matter. O’Brien isn’t just making an empty statement. He truly believes it. “The way that I was brought up in coaching is I never worked for or played for a successful coach that pointed fingers,” O’Brien said. “I think the thing that I’ve always tried to do is look in the mirror.”
The Texans are 3-6. All is not lost, but things are not looking good, either.
O’Brien won’t point fingers in any losses. It’s not who he is or ever will be.
And he isn’t wrong to take some blame. He could be better in some areas.
And it will have to be soon if the Texans want any chance at a turnaround.
A few of the team’s biggest problems aren’t O’Brien’s fault no matter how many times he
heaps blame upon himself.
J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus going down with season-ending injuries against the Chiefs is just flat-out bad luck.
And after a fluke non-contact torn anterior cruciate ligament for Deshaun Watson a few weeks later, it’s clear O’Brien isn’t a walking four-leaf clover, but again, that injury — the biggest blow the Texans have taken this year — is not his fault.
The 94-yard touchdown that should have been called back for holding Sunday was a momentumchanger. Who knows what would have happened if that had gone differently.
Again, not O’Brien’s fault.
But there are parts of Texans failures he can put on himself.
It’s good that he does. He stands up for his players, for his game plan and for his system. It’s the respectable thing to do.
O’Brien has his faults and failures.
His clock management at the end of games has been an issue more than once against the Patriots, again against the Colts. He’s defended some of his decisions in the final minutes and has taken blame.
Against the Seahawks, O’Brien was too conservative with his offensive play-calling at times and the Texans ended up losing that game, too.
He named the wrong quarterback to start the season, opting for Tom Savage instead of Watson. It’s easy to wonder if the Game 1 loss to Jacksonville would have been a win with Watson at the helm.
So, yes, O’Brien is at fault sometimes.
The Savage dilemma
Other times, it’s on others. Savage isn’t good enough to have the role he’s in. That’s more clear than ever after watching Watson lead the offense.
O’Brien can’t magically make Savage’s talent increase.
What he can do is call plays that work to Savage’s strengths.
“What are our players doing the best schematically, tempowise?” O’Brien said. “Sometimes you need to follow the KISS theory, keep it simple, and I think that’s something that we have to look at. I think that (Sunday’s) game plan, I don’t think it was a real complex game plan but I think we have to go back to looking at what our players do really well, what they have confidence in and get back to doing that.”
That will help. Savage isn’t Watson. He needs plays that suit his ability.
The problem at this point is it might not help enough.
O’Brien’s back is against the wall. Things really haven’t gone his way this year and the Texans need a lot to fall into place to have a chance at the postseason. It’s a long shot.
For what it’s worth. O’Brien’s faults are fixable. So are the Texans’. It might be too late this season, but they aren’t a lost cause.
And he isn’t making excuses.
As much as the same line — the refrain of “I need to coach better” — seems like it, O’Brien is genuine in that belief and in his coaching philosophy.
Effort trumps errors
“Coaching is about teaching and trying to get the best out of your players in a consistent manner,” he said. “And if we’re not doing that, and the players are giving really good effort, then where do you start? Well, you start with yourself.
“Now look, if a guy’s consistently jumping offside, making the same mental mistakes, poor attitude, poor body language, all those different things, you’re going to make a change with a player. But that’s not the case. These guys are playing hard.”
So, it’s up to O’Brien to correct the errors.
If a turnaround is going to happen, it has to start Sunday against Arizona.
Everyone is making mistakes and they are leading to losses.
The Texans have to start somewhere and if O’Brien wants to start by cleaning up his own mistakes, then he should.
Otherwise, the line is coming from him again.
“It’s on me.”